He "embodies all that Occupy Wall Street opposes – the elite 1 percent, failed high finance and compromised politics," they add. And not only that, "his liberal agenda is part of what catalyzed the Tea Party movement. His fate could even unite a fractious America, if only against him."

Their analysis follows word this morning that Corzine has stepped down from the CEO's post at MF Global. The news was first reported by CNBC, and shortly after by The Associated Press and Bloomberg News.

Corzine, a Democrat, is a former governor and senator from New Jersey. MF Global, a securities firm, filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday. As NPR's Zoe Chace has reported, "the company, at Corzine's urging, made big investments in European sovereign debt. Those bets turned out to be losers."

After the bankruptcy filing, as The New York Times reported, word emerged that regulators had discovered that "hundreds of millions of dollars in customer money has gone missing" from the company. That's being investigated.

According to the AP, MF Global says Corzine will decline a severance package worth $12.1 million.

Today, the Times' Deal Book blog writes that "months before MF Global teetered on the brink, federal regulators were seeking to rein in the types of risky trades that contributed to the firm's collapse. But they faced opposition from an influential opponent: Jon S. Corzine, the head of the then little-known brokerage firm. ... While other financial firms employed teams of lobbyists to fight the new regulation, MF Global's chief executive in meetings over the last year personally pressed regulators to halt their plans."

And now, according to Barrons, "remaining members of the company's board are under close scrutiny by regulators and angry former customers." Also, as The Wall Street Journal's Bankruptcy Beat blog reports, "The trustee overseeing the liquidation of MF Global's brokerage business is subpoenaing the company's top brass, including Corzine, in connection with a wide-ranging probe [of the] broker-dealer's collapse."